This week I'll be travelling to Scotland for my third trip to Edinburgh Yarn Festival, I'll be in the market place with yarn, books and few other lovely things. I'm really looking forward to it!

After last years show, Lilith asked me if would be part of a book she was going to put together to celebrate Old Maiden Aunt Yarns 10th Anniversary, I love Lilith's yarn and I was honoured to be asked. The design I came up with is Blashy and here is what I wrote about it for the Old Maiden Aunt blog:

I haven’t visited Scotland anywhere near as much as I would like and I’m making plans to fix that as soon as possible. My first trip to Scotland was a visit to Shetland for sort-of-Wool Week a few years ago. We made a bit of a calendar error and ended up mainly going the week before Wool Week. All’s well that ends well and we have an amazing holiday and I fell in love, I even saw a double rainbow – if that’s not a sign of a magical place, I don’t know what is.

I’ve been trying to go back ever since. I have since had flying visits to Edinburgh and Glasgow but I haven’t had nearly enough non-work time to explore.The rapidly changing weather was one of the things I most loved about Shetland and I used that as inspiration for my design for Lilith’s books. One day we walked along the beach to the tombolo, we didn’t need coats and we sat on hill and had a little picnic. As we ate our sandwiches in the sun, we watched the seagulls on the cliffs. The next day, we were trying not to get blown in to the sea by a mean wind and rain that was coming in sideways. Coats were on and hoods were up, and we struggled to open and close the car doors.

The swirling lace and cable pattern is inspired by this wind. I love inclement weather like this as long as I haven’t got to go outside in it. There’s nothing better than being curled up in front of an open fire while a storm rages outside – it’s my absolute favourite. I love doing it in my own home, I love doing it on holiday, I loved it in Shetland and I hope to return there soon to love it again.

If you're picking up your copy at EYF (there will be plenty on the Old Maiden Aunt stand) you can take part in the bingo - all the details are here.